Kinship
by Call me Chaplin
Summary: Aysa is half she-dwarf, long ago orphaned and making a living as a hunter. She needed a sword, and Thorin Oakenshield of all people was the smithy. A kinship forms and twelve years later finds her in a hobbit hole joining a quest she never intended to go on - to regain control of Erebor. With Fili. Who catches her eye and holds conversations. Who very slowly steals over her heart.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

* * *

It was a trifling task to cater to the race of man as a Dwarven blacksmith. Oh, the temptation to slash a blade deep into a thigh in annoyance was ever strong for Thorin. The worst of it was when inexperience men ask more for something that they'd be keen to look at rather than use.

His least favourite wording – '_can you make a blade like those elves? I hear they're fancy_' or beautiful, light, and any number of words that should not be used when asking for a blade. Strong, sharp, and heavy enough to kill foes were what they should ask for, as every blade was beautiful when wielded properly.

One day his hopes of doing a proper commission dropped drastically. In walked a woman, smaller than he'd ever seen – dwarf, hobbit, human or elf. Sure, she was taller than some, but not taller than him. It was simply the petite shape of her, the drastic thinness of her waist and lithe look. Like an elf that couldn't measure up to him, without the ears.

Surely this young thing in a blue bodice would ask him for a dagger. A pretty gift for a husband or brother. Maybe she'd attempt to convince him to fashion jewels into the hilt as some women did. These women never intended to unsheathe the blade, some even asking for it dull. _She couldn't pick up a blade so heavy_, he assumed.

But this woman let down the hood she wore and he saw that she was so different. Not with long hair or lips stained with berries for colour, not wearing a smile, and certainly not unmarred. Instead her short sand coloured hair was in tatters and had bone beads tied into a braided strand, a small scar along the line of her jaw, feeling of sunlight and smelling of wildlife rather than all those in this town who remained inside. Then her eyes fell on the blades in a barrel by his forge with interest, not fear or disgust.

"I'd like a sword." She lifted grey eyes to him, a smudge of dirt on her right cheek. Thorin remained indifferent, giving a nod and watching her carefully. "A proper cleaver."

"Would you like to shop around? It will take a week if you're hoping instead I fashion one." Thorin gestured her to the barrel. "I'm sure any blade would make a fine gift for whomever it is you shop for."

The woman's hand slipped around the hilt of a large blade and she lifted it with near enough ease that he was sure she wielded one before. A smile finally graced her lips. "It's for me." She told him. "And I'll need my own – a week is nothing to wait."

"Is there any blade you prefer?" Thorin asked, his day suddenly much more interesting. It had been a terribly long time, decades even, since he had seen a woman properly wield a weapon. She put the sword back, picking up another a shorter one.

"It will have to be long for me. Perhaps a shape similar to this." She stroked the blade with interest.

It had a double edge tip, the top a dramatic slant, the bottom a deathly curve and the rest of the top straight and sharpened. Near the hilt, the blade went jagged with short stabbing spires to keep the enemy from falling completely to the end when ran through. "As well as a dagger or two. Dual speared tip." She added.

"You know your blades." Thorin was fully impressed.

The woman turned the blade down and slipped it back into place. "Yes. I'm, well, not from around here." She gave a small laugh then, enough to break Thorin's indifference as he gave a slight smile.

"A sword and two daggers will cost a pretty coin."

"No worries at all – I've just gotten back from a good hunt and sold a hefty amount of hides and meat. My sword, however, didn't fare as well as I and has been trampled by a hoard of boars." She frowned deeply. "I've been told that the city smith was a dwarf and my apologies if I insult you, but I had to see so for myself. And your craftwork is very, very satisfactory."

He was as flattered as he could feel from a stranger with such an odd story. "I will start on your iron right away. But might I ask your name and where, perhaps, you are from?"

She held herself with poise and had such a knowing look on her face. "I'm Aysa, and my origin won't give you the answer you're looking for. You want to know my race, not that I'm from Archet."

"Indeed, that's what I want to know. Curiosity." He stated.

"Half human. Half dwarf." She nodded at him as she said '_dwarf_'. "Never met one, however. And of all the dwarves, Thorin Oakenshield!"

He stood a little straighter. "You know of me?"

"Know of you? My human mother never shorted me of stories about my other kind. I looked up to you and honoured you deeply." He shifted slightly, watching her turn sheepish. "Not that a life full of despair is an honour, but how you carried on and led your people from home and in battle. That is the story I favour."

Thorin nodded his thanks, not planning on saying the words. "Your blades will be done in a week. Ten days at best with the daggers. You may check on them whenever you like, and then we'll discuss payment."

Despite his one week deadline, she was back every three days. There were requests to assist him, which he refused. The second time, her daggers were finished and when Thorin refused her help, she sat out of the way fashioning sheaths out of bought leather strips and a few well-placed stitches. On the ninth day her sword was finished as well and he had it ready to present to her when she walked up to his forge, as well as her daggers in their sheaths.

Something about the way she smiled reminded Thorin of the first time he gave Fili a blade, Kili a bow and quiver of arrows. Not that those weapons pleased his sister any. Like with them, now with Aysa, he felt kinship. She looked about their age as well.

"We haven't discussed payment, but this is far more than I'd pay any smithy for these blades." She held out a coin purse, holding her new sword possessively.

It was mad of him, but Thorin nudged her hand back and refused. "It's been a pleasure to finally fashion a fine blade for someone, let alone three. The money you can keep, along with those weapons."

"Impossible! I can't do that. Take this, please." She held it out again.

He just crossed him arms. "I will not take a coin for something that has been more for sport than work. I anticipate the day you first slice into a wild beast with that sword."

Aysa looked at him with such concern and respect alike. "I may not be your kind, but my father was a part of your kingdom, and I see you only as a king. And I cannot take these blades from my king. Not without payment given."

"Then take it from kin." Thorin told her. "See me as your kind and your family. Come back again and next time, we shall hunt together, seek out my friends. And feast valiantly."

The way she lit up reminded him of the first time he laid eyes on her when her hood was let down. How she was like summer light and still freshly covered in the dirt and scent of the forest outside city walls. Aysa looked as bright as he once had, as his people had once been. And she smiled very wide.

"It would be… the _deepest_ honour. One I don't deserve." Her grey eyes showed emotion, watering, but she drew in a breath and was stone. She would not cry. "I plan to return in a month's time. And I would love to hunt and feast with you and your brethren."

Thorin took the hand that just tucked her coins away, kissing the back of it. "Until then, fight valiantly." He wished her well and she was leaving so hesitantly.

True to her word, the half she-dwarf returned in thirty days, wearing armours and furs, hair just longer and cleaned, feathers tucked into those bone beads. They set off, crossing the wild lands towards the Blue Mountains. They hunted and camped, sparred and talked. She was more than excellent as a fighter, especially for a woman, but Thorin could compare her to any man in his company and deem her a plausible winner should they spar. She was small a quick, stronger than assumed prior.

In the Blue Mountains he brought her only to his old friends. Balin and a few of the elder's friends, Gloin and those who mined with him, and his sister Dís's husband Rhorr. It was the most excellent time he'd had with any dwarf in a long time. One of the only journeys he went on where he was not plagued with his recent past and life disappointments. By the end he thought one day he may call her his own rather than just kin. It was the nearest to a child he was ever planning to have, and he hadn't even truly planned this.

Twelve years after their meeting, even when he was no longer a smith, she was still in his life and using his blades, keeping the best of care for them. So when the time came to reclaim Erebor, Thorin consulted nobody when asking her to meet him in Bag End. Aysa asked for no explanation. She swore in an instant to be there.

* * *

**One and only disclaimer: I own nothing**

**AN: Fili and Kili's father isn't named, so I called him Rhorr. Also, this is just a little prologue to the actually journey - which will most definitely be movie based because it's easier to reference the script than it is to copy the book that a lot of people seem unfamiliar with and doesn't really go with the movie well. The first few chapters will follow the movie events pretty accurately, but after they leave Bag End I'll stop quoting every single line, promise.**

**Please leave reviews or follow or let me know how you like it! I personally enjoyed the idea of Thorin having a kinship with someone like this. And I deeply adore Fili. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

The thick of a blade embedded itself deep into the skull of a wolf with a loud thump and quick resistance. Aysa placed the flat of her boot over the snout of the deceased creature and wrenched her sword from the animal. "I hate wolves." She huffed, wiping her blade somewhat clean on its fur.

She was on her way and now fairly late to Bag End. Last she saw Thorin was days ago. He found her in Bree where she told him she'd be to ask her to meet him this day, and there was no refusing. It was too exciting, to think that there was something so secretive ahead that he pulled her to the shadows of the Prancing Pony and whispered so quickly, his cloak still lifted and his eyes dark.

Along the path, however, ran a pack of wolves that took interest in her pony. Aysa wounded and scared off four of the five, the last one being the one that she cleaned her weapon on. She found her pony Gertie down the road, still panicked and rearing up slightly as Aysa got near. She sheathed her sword and shushed her mount, leading the poor thing back onto the path.

Riding the rest of the way to Bag End, it got dark and she hummed to herself in the night. She came out of the East Farthing Forest and set eyes upon the hills and hobbit holes. It was easy to assume where the company would be. Thorin claimed it would be quite a gathering of fighters and kin, so there was a long line of ponies high above the roads of this place next to a larger mound with a deep green door.

She tied Gertie to the fence with the other ponies and left several apples on the post for her to eat through the night. Then to the door, seeing a glowing little mark there in the wood. Aysa also saw Thorin's pony, giving it a good pat along the way.

When she knocked, there was silence. Inside the dwarves and Gandalf looked at each other. They counted off and Dwalin asked, "Who else is there?"

Thorin just arrived ten minutes prior and they had yet to get to business. "I invited another." He told them.

So when the door opened, Aysa was faced with a small mob of dwarves as half the group went to answer the knock, the first familiar one being Balin. Cheer ran through her as she let herself in, letting out an excited noise, arms open.

"Lass!" He shouted and embraced her.

"Balin! Good to see you again. Been years." Three or four, but they'd met only a few times either way. It didn't stop her from thinking of him as someone close to her. She shed her coat, freshly cut hair falling from the hood, just above her shoulders. "Where's the old codger who asked me here?"

Meaning Thorin, who was still in the other room. "If he's an old codger, what am I?" Balin asked cheerfully.

She held his wide face with that long white beard between her hands fondly. "Wise, my friend, very wise." Aysa told him excitedly. Then turned and caught only one more face she knew. "Gloin! How's Gimli?"

"Feisty as ever!" He responded with a warmth like it came straight from a hearth.

Then a deep voice, dangerous and resonating, caught the attention of all as the rest of the company entered the entry hall, hobbit and wizard included. "You're late."

Aysa looked over at Thorin, his posture sharp and arms crossed. She deadpanned. "I thought I'd stop and fight a wolf pack along the way. You lot could wait." She spoke so disrespectfully that she shocked the other dwarves who had no knowledge of her.

They stared each other down, and then Thorin cracked a smile and both of them laughed. "Aysa, my child. Come in. Eat." He clapped a hand on her shoulder and took her into the kitchen.

"Gladly! And, by the Gods, twelve years and I still haven't held a finer blade. Right through the skull." She put her hand on his back looking up at him with love and care. No man had ever been such a father to her.

"It takes care to have iron keep so long. You are to thank for that." He sat her down, and Gloin instantly gave her a plate of bread and cheese with a bowl of soup.

The table filled again with dwarves and the tall wizard eyed her from the corner. "Thorin, who is this female friend who is neither hobbit nor dwarf but small indeed?" He asked.

Thorin set about introductions. "This is Aysa, daughter of both dwarves and the race of man. We met more than a decade ago, and she's become a fearsome companion as well as kin. I asked her here tonight hoping she'd be interested in this quest."

There was a small noise of complaint as she sipped her soup. Aysa looked over the table of dwarves old and young, some she knew from sketches and of course the two she met personally. Balin stood from his seat to gather the attention of those who murmured and mumbled about her in complaint.

"Heed my words, brethren, there is no finer woman with a sword and you all share the same amount of ambition!" He sat back down as they went silent. "I dare venture to say she's just as good and definitely more experienced than some of you young ones. Goblins to boars to bears she has fought."

"Meretricious compliments, Balin, but perhaps I should officially meet the lot before you go and risk insult for me." She smiled at him from Thorin's side and looked at the table. "Introductions, if you please?"

The wizard gave a laugh. "I am Gandalf, and you sit in the home of Bilbo Baggins, that Hobbit there." She turned and nodded to the small man, who fumbled over words and managed not a noise before someone else was speaking.

Gloin took over. "This deaf doorknob here is my brother Oin! And Balin's brute of a sibling there is Dwalin."

"And I'm Bofur. This is Bombur, and Bifur. Ori down there's the quiet one, youngest of Nori, Dori, and himself." The dwarf in a hat and with a pipe explained, pointing everyone out.

"Fili." Said a young blonde across from her, watching Aysa carefully.

"And Kili." His brunette brother said.

Thorin leaned close. "My nephews."

But the names already rang as familiar before he told Aysa. "Yes, of course! How is Rhorr? I've shared a barrel or two of mead with him and there was no finer father. He spoke of nothing but you two."

The brother's looked at each other while she got an odd look from Thorin. "He made no mention of you." Kili commented.

"Have any of the men I've met?" She joked down at the three she knew. Everyone laughed lightly at her.

Gandalf's was the hardiest. "Aysa, my friend, you seem to hold such a respect for these dwarves you've only just met. Tell me, of what line to you descend?" The old man asked.

She lifted her chin and gave a small smile. "I see every dwarf I meet as someone who deserves some honour, and as for me, well, my father was from Erebor. Before his death to a goblin swarm when I was a babe."

"His name was Belen. A miner I'm afraid none of us had met." Thorin added. "Which brings us to why we are here."

Aysa look over curiously. What did a miner from Erebor have to do with these thirteen dwarves? Some too young to even know of what happened in that place at that time. She wasn't even alive in those days. All she had were tales and Thorin's reminiscent rants.

It seemed only she and the hobbit were on the out, everyone turning serious. Balin asked, "What news from the meeting in Ered Luin? Did they all come?"

Thorin gave a simple, slight nod, eating bread. "Aye. Envoys from all seven kingdoms."

There were mutterings of joy and Aysa was starting to gather one thing – a battle sounded like it would be ahead. Dwalin chimed after his brother's question, "What do the dwarves of the Iron Hills say? Is Dain with us?"

Grim, "They will not come." Thorin said. Disappointed sounds followed. "They say this quest is ours and ours alone."

"You're going on a quest?" Bilbo, the hobbit, asked from behind them. Aysa looked at him, at all of them, and felt she knew what was happening.

The only thing that made her father relevant in all this was Erebor. A King without a mountain, old companions and new ones straight from his line, his fellow kin and brethren, and a wizard. Speak of armies. A _quest_. They were taking back their home. Her father's home.

But nobody said it as the wizard spoke to the hobbit, hand in his robes gripping for something. "Bilbo, my dear fellow, let us have a little more light."

* * *

**AN: Just another chapter in present day to get my story really started after that semi-prologue. Please review! **

**I'll update soon for those of you reading. Thank you!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

"Far to the East, over ranges and rivers, beyond woodlands and wastelands, lies a single solitary peak." Gandalf spoke and everyone was quickly quiet. The air was heavy with thought of the past or stories for those who were younger.

Bilbo was now the only one who didn't feel the weight of the moment, leaning over to the map with a candle in hand. "The Lonely Mountain."

"Aye. Oin has read the portents, and the portents say it is time." Gloin said.

His brother explained, "Ravens have been seen flying back to the mountain as it was foretold: When the birds of yore return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end."

Aysa let out a breath at the table, looking down at the map. "As it should." She murmured, but so completely unsure she could join this quest in the end. This was more than goblins and wild beast any man could slay. A dragon?

"Uh, what beast?" Bilbo sputtered in concern.

"Well that would be a reference to Smaug the Terrible, chiefest and greatest calamity of our age." Bofur spoke on insensitively. If Aysa didn't have to face this as well she might laugh at his tone. "Airborne fire-breather, teeth like razors, claws like meat hooks, extremely fond of precious metals–"

Bilbo cut in sharply, snappy for a hobbit. "Yes, I know what a dragon is."

Young little Ori stood like a rabbit popping out of a hole, quick. "I'm not afraid! I'm up for it. I'll give him a taste of the Dwarfish iron right up his jacksie!"

Dwarves shouted in agreement and Aysa let out a snort at the boy. His brother Dori pulled his arm. "Sit down!"

"The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us. But we number just thirteen, and not thirteen of the best, nor brightest." Balin brought them back only to earn loud complaints at the insults he shared.

It was Fili who spoke with conviction despite, prideful and capturing. "We may be few in number, but we're fighters, all of us, to the last dwarf!" Aysa stared at him, catching his eyes and gaining a small smile from him.

She looked away quickly to Kili as he fawned out, "And you forget, we have a wizard in our company. Gandalf will have killed hundreds of dragons in his time."

"Oh, damn." Aysa cringed. She knew better. Wizard did not mean dragon slayer. There was never a myth of such thing.

Gandalf's quick diversion showed it. "Oh, well, now, uh, I- I- I wouldn't say that, I–"

"How many, then?" Dori asked.

"Uh, what?"

He repeated, "Well, how many dragons have you killed? Go on, give us a number!"

Gandalf embarrassedly started coughing on his pipe smoke, which displeased those waiting. The dwarves jumped to their feet, arguing about the number of dragons Gandalf has killed. Many to few, hundreds to tens. Aysa shook her head and put her hands on her cheeks, vowing them all to be a bit dim.

Thorin jumped up, giving a quick Dwarven word for silence. "Shazara!" Every fell to their seats and kept tight lipped.

"If we have read these signs, do you not think others will have read them too? Rumours have begun to spread. The dragon Smaug has not been seen for 60 years." Thorin lectured then with conviction and a fist. Always the leader. "Eyes look east to the Mountain, assessing, wondering, weighing the risk. Perhaps the vast wealth of our people now lies unprotected. Do we sit back while others claim what is rightfully ours? Or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor? Du Bekâr! Du Bekâr!"

Aysa couldn't resist a cheer with the rest, heart pounding hard. It was not about the wealth so much as the land – to see those halls for the first time meant so much, even if she didn't yet know she'd be going on this quest.

Balin stilled the noise. "You forget: the front gate is sealed. There is no way into the mountain."

The wizard had an ominous tone and clearly knew more than the rest. "That, my dear Balin, is not entirely true." From his robes, between twiddling fingers, he produced a key, fashioned in iron and with metal in sharp diamond shapes.

It clearly meant something more to Thorin, who asked, "How came you by this?"

"It was given to me by your father, by Thrain, for safekeeping. It is yours now."

The key fit Thorin's palm as Gandalf handed it over. Everyone stared on in wonder of what it stood for.

Fili let out a breath. "If there is a key, there must be a door."

Gandalf brought their attention back to the mad in front of him, pointing with his pipe. "These runes speak of a hidden passage to the lower halls." Meaning another way in, as Kili voiced. "Well, if we can find it, but dwarf doors are invisible when closed. The answer lies hidden somewhere in this map and I do not have the skill to find it. But there are others in Middle-earth who can. The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth, and no small amount of courage. But, if we are careful and clever, I believe that it can be done."

"Stealth–" Aysa spoke to herself, lifting her head. In a bunch of dwarves?

"That's why we need a burglar." Ori said right as her eyes fell onto Bilbo, the Hobbit looking on in cluelessness.

"Hm, A good one, too. An expert, I'd imagine." He voiced.

"And are you?" Gloin asked, tone suggestive and wondering.

Bilbo looked up, brow furrowed, having no clue what he'd just spurred. "Am I what?"

"He said he's an expert! Hey, hey!" Oin cheered, horn in ear, causing the dwarves to laugh and celebrate.

Then the hobbit recounted their words. "M-me? No, no, no, no, no. I'm not a burglar; I've never stolen a thing in my life!"

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Mr. Baggins. He's hardly burglar material." Balin said sceptically.

"Aye, the wild is no place for gentlefolk who can neither fight nor fend for themselves." Dwalin added a bit more harshly than his brother.

Bilbo just kept nodding as the dwarves started to argue. Until Gandalf rose, anger filling his face and voice, room growing dark and chilling. "Enough! If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar, then a burglar he is." Then he sat, turning gentle again with a clear of his throat.

"Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet. In fact, they can pass unseen by most if they choose. And while the dragon is accustomed to the smell of dwarf, the scent of hobbit is all but unknown to him, which gives us a distinct advantage. You asked me to find the fourteenth member of this company, and I have chosen Mr. Baggins. There's a lot more to him than appearances suggest, and he's got a great deal more to offer than any of you know, including himself. You must trust me on this."

Aysa did, and if Thorin didn't she'd hit him, but the man was agreeing as she thought he would. "Very well. We will do it your way." Bilbo disagreed, unheard. "Give him the contract."

"Please." The hobbit still hoped not to be a part of it.

Still unheard as Bofur said, "Alright, we're off!"

Balin was handing Bilbo a contract – a folded bit of parchment that unfolded in all directions. "It's just the usual summary of out-of-pocket expenses, time required, remuneration, funeral arrangements, so forth."

"Funeral arrangements?" The hobbit questioned.

A similar paper was placed in front of Aysa, as well as ink and quill. "Aysa." Thorin said gently and she looked at him, holding the contract. "You don't have to."

It wasn't in his voice or even in his expression, but she knew he was concerned for all of them. Oh, he always was over the years when something unplanned happened, like a troll or goblin cave. But this was planned and much more deadly, so he had more the reason to hide it. Aysa reached out and put her hand on his shoulder.

"You are all the kin I have left. I shall not see you dead unless I'm there to die by your side. Though I have faith you will succeed." Though her voice wavered slightly and she wasn't sure whether or not this was the truth. She just signed without reading as Bilbo panicked over the words on his own contract.

He was reading it aloud, however, and she got the gist of it. "Terms: Cash on delivery, up to but not exceeding one fourteenth of total profit, if any. Seems fair. Eh, Present company shall not be liable for injuries inflicted by or sustained as a consequence thereof including but not limited to lacerations… evisceration… incineration?"

Of course. Her hand shook slightly on the last letter of her name, signing _Aysa, daughter of Belen_. She hid it with a flourish of her wrist as Bofur said, "Oh, aye, he'll melt the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye."

"Huh." Bilbo huffed as she pushed the paper away from herself. The action made the man across from her look over and again she was looking at Fili, eyes on her, a blue like the sea, almost teal.

This time they both looked away slowly, back to Bilbo. "You all right, laddie?" Balin asked.

He leaned forward, hands on his knees, panting. The hobbit was now making a spectacle of himself and Aysa was waiting for him to either puke or run or pass out. "Uh, yeah...Feel a bit faint." Pass out, then, inevitably.

"Think furnace with wings." Bofur went on.

"Air, I- I- I need air."

"Flash of light, searing pain, then Poof! You're nothing more than a pile of ash."

Bilbo breathed quite heavily, pushing himself straight. He attempted to compose himself, turning like he might walk away, then turning back. Hand on his hips, then falling again. "Hmmm. Nope." The hobbit gave up, then promptly fainted.

"Ah, very helpful, Bofur." Gandalf said sarcastically, shaking his head.

* * *

**AN: Last of the script for quite a while, promise! I just wanted to finish off this scene and then for a good while it's all original little bits (save for all of three paragraphs or so next chapter). **

**Thank you for reading this story and reviewing if you have. Lots and lots of Fili coming up! Ah, so exciting!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

As the unconscious hobbit was tended to, everyone dispersed to their own tasks. Further catching up or searching packs for a little something to smoke. Fili was listening to Kili, always enthusiastic and teasing about Bilbo falling so flat like he had. Yet Fili was staring at that woman that their uncle brought. Aysa. With her straight cut hair and bones and feathers tied into braids. With not a single hair anywhere else that he could see.

Unlike any dwarf woman, but then again she was half. Dwarf height, human features, with an iron blade. In this time, she spoke with Thorin, and Fili had never seen his uncle embrace any woman, but the way he did it with Aysa was more like he would Kili or Fili. One arm, a quick pat on the shoulder, and then a hand on her head when they pulled apart.

They spoke for a few minutes, and then Aysa was arm in arm with Gloin and off down the hall out of view. Their uncle came up to him and Kili, looking down at them both.

"Are you both truly prepared for tomorrow?" He asked them.

Kili gave a quick yes, and Fili uncrossed his legs at the ankle and sat up straight. "Why have we never met this woman you've brought?" He questioned in return without much emotion. It wouldn't do well to seem interested.

The man looked at him critically either way, taking a moment. "My sister disproved of you two out with the men, with your father or I. We generally drink." Thorin told him. "I've gotten hell for you two coming here, so it's moot now."

"But nobody breathed a word." Kili added just as Fili thought of it.

"We didn't always drink near. There were hunting trips and traveling, with many pubs along the way." He replied. "Things slip the minds of drunkards."

Then she came back into the hall they sat in, wiping down a dagger with a cloth. "You have a curious friend, Uncle." Fili commented, too aware of her there.

"Friend? She is the nearest to a child I will come to know." Thorin told them. That surprised both boys, and Fili kept staring past him to the woman. "When I met her, she reminded me of the pair of you, only less annoying. I'm sure you'll get on. Especially if Fili does not tear his eyes away from her."

Caught, his eyes snapped up to Thorin, who gave a smug smirk and walked away. Kili nudged his arm. "Is she you're type, brother?" The brunette scoffed at him.

Fili rolled his eyes and gave a joking smile. "It is nothing but curiosity. She is certainly not!" But it was a small lie. Maybe more than small, really.

"Good. Get it out of your system, because here she comes." Kili clapped him on the back hard enough Fili lurched forward slightly.

As he said, Aysa came up and Kili ditched Fili. The woman gave him a smile and a hello, then sat at the other end of the bench that Fili was still on. "It has been a pleasure to meet you, since I couldn't say as much before." She told him. "Same for Kili, but he ran off."

"Same." Fili felt a thump in his chest at the presence of this woman hat he hadn't felt since he was, basically, a child. Twenty, thirty years ago. "I speak for us both I'm sure when I say you are an interesting character. Our Uncle doesn't treat everyone like family."

That bright smile softened to fondness. "I'm sure he does not. Him, Balin, and Gloin have been the kindest of dwarves to me. As well as Rhorr. You never did tell me how he was fairing. It's been five of six years since I've been able to meet him in the halls."

"He died five or six years ago." Fili spoke simply.

She startled and pressed her mouth into a line. "Thorin's a dirty liar. I ask and he says everyone's fine." She seemed genuinely livid, voice going rough. "Hell, I thought Balin would go first!"

Fili laughed because he'd heard nobody but his mother talk about Thorin that way. Or Balin, for that matter. "It's likely he would have, aye, if not for an unfortunate hunting venture. Too far north – orcs." He explained and it did hurt a little, but it had been years either way.

"That's putting quite a damper on this day." She commented and sat back, posture somewhat defeated but emotions not high. Clearly she'd heard of a loss worse than this, and lost people herself. "Not that it's joyous to know I'm off to a dragon lair."

"Ah, but it is a joyous day. We will be getting our home back!" Fili enthused, hoping to cheer her up if only just. He never thought a smile could make much difference, not with women prior, but she looked genuinely better when happy.

She did give a slight one, a smile that told him he was being silly rather than agreeing. "A home neither of us have seen. And I don't truly belong to either way."

"Why not?"

"Half human?" She reminded him with a laugh lighter than the air, lilting and sweet.

How easily he forgot. "Ah, yes, right."

It was as everyone grew slightly quiet that the dwarves all heard a small rant from Bilbo. "That's what I thought. Sorry, Gandalf, I can't sign this. You've got the wrong Hobbit."

Feet padded down the hall and they caught a glimpse of the hobbit just before he went into a room. Then Aysa looked to Fili. "I suppose that's that. Shame."

Then she was on her feet and slipping into the living room. Fili followed after a moment, finding Kili again. He told his brother, "The hobbit is out."

"No!" Kili complained lightly.

And like that it was the end of the planning. They'd stay the night and be gone before noon. The night couldn't end without a song, however. As everyone convened, men began to hum. A sad slow melody that they all knew, age and birthplace aside. Kili and Fili grew up on this song and others.

Thorin sang alone to start, but everyone slowly joined.

"Far over the misty mountains cold

To dungeons deep and caverns old

We must away ere break of day

To find our long-forgotten gold.

The pines were roaring on the height

The winds were moaning in the night

The fire was red, it flaming spread

The trees like torches blazed with light."

Only as people were settling in spare rooms and on furniture for the night did Fili feel the weight of this. He was looking forward to every moment, of course, but he truly did not have the experience. Kili went right to sleep, the younger brother always forgetting for a moment what could be a consequence. Fili sat up in the living room, on the floor and looking out the window of the hobbit hole, the only one awake as there were snores throughout the home.

Or so he thought. Sometime as the moon began to move further into view, there were soft footsteps. He turned to the noise and in the dark he could still see that it was a barefoot Aysa. She was out of armour and her tunic large, falling off a shoulder, half tucked into canvas trousers. The moonlight lit up her pale skin as she sneaked through the room, side stepping Kili and Ori.

"What are you doing?" Fili asked lightly as she went to Thorin's pack.

She startled. "Shush." She whispered back, flipping open the cover of one pocket. "You scared me."

"That wasn't an answer." He teased, still very quiet.

The young woman held up a small toy. A metal horse that a child might have, barely bigger than the end of her thumb. "Planting a token." She put it in the pocket and then was coming to Fili's side. She sat with him in the starlight. "He won't ever notice it. He's a little daft."

"Then why would you do it?" He asked her.

Aysa pulled her legs to her chest, chin tilted up and he notice a scar on her jaw for the first time in the white moon light. "In case something happens, of course. You will tell him it's there if so, please?"

The pain in her voice was obvious. "Nothing will happen to you." Fili assured her.

"It's a passing thought either way. It's kept me up." Aysa then looked at him, catching him staring at her profile, though she didn't react to it. "And you? You're the only other one awake."

"I'm not experienced, so I cannot rest, and I'm not the youngest, so I can't remain naïve." He admitted, glancing at Ori and Kili, both younger than him if only just. "It is a _lingering_ thought, yes."

"I'm somewhat experienced and I still don't understand how they sleep like they do. I always rest better after battle rather than before, because after a fight it feels like nothing else could happen to you so soon." Aysa confessed in return.

"Aye, I get it." Fili nodded and looked out the window again. "I can say I've met a goblin hoard once or twice in my life and the nights we slayed them, I slept hard."

She made a small, amused sound. Just a hum. "And what of Kili?"

"Bah, he doesn't count." Fili spoke jokingly, waving a hand to shun the sleeping brother. "He fights best with a bow, at a distance. The farther from a fight the less worry. And he is only in his seventies."

Aysa gave a laugh. "You're… only just older, aren't you?"

"Eighty-one." He confessed.

She smiled. "I'm seventy-eight. Between you two, Thorin says."

"Almost right between us." Then he looked at her and mocked, "_And in your seventies_."

"Yes, indeed."

It was curious because he assumed she'd be so much younger, as a half human. "So you age like a dwarf."

"So far." She grinned. "Yes. Made my mother jealous. She got old and I looked twenty for all of it."

Fili calmed completely, feeling sympathy at his sudden thought. "She's dead, isn't she?"

"A long time gone, yes."

"I can't imagine it. Losing both parents, so long ago for you."

Aysa nudged him, playful so he knew to not be so serious about it. "I knew it would happen. I was ready. It's unfair but it's nothing to despair over. I spent her entire life with her because I knew I'd have all this time after to be something else."

"Like a dwarf."

"Exactly like a dwarf. I've lived as nothing else since." She gave a laugh. "Drinking and hunting and swinging good iron. It's been great."

Behind them, one of the sleeping men grumbled and shifted, but then snoring resumed. "We should both sleep." Fili told her even quieter, not wanting to wake anyone.

"Shame. The stars are bright tonight." Aysa pushed herself up and pulled her tunic onto her shoulder. It only fell off the other side. "Good night, Fili."

He lied down after she left him, and it was still hard to sleep. But he closed his eyes and just wondered what it would have been like to watch the sky all night with her.

* * *

**AN: Wow! I sort of ignored this and said that I wasn't going to update, but I came back and it had a few more reviews and just _hundreds_ of views. So I see no harm in adding a little somethin' somethin' for all of you to read. Finally, no script, and a fantastic bit of conversation. Finally some Fili!**

**Please keep reading and reviewing. Thank you for those of you who are.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

After a decent rest and a good deal of thought, Aysa cut into Thorin's complaint of wasted time at the hobbit hole as they road on. "I think he'll come." She decided and voiced it loudly.

Thorin looked back at her. They were just out of the town and following the roads slowly at Gandalf's request. In case Bilbo did come. Which was why he was complaining. "Don't be daft. He's as much a burglar and you are a man."

"Thanks, thanks for that." She told him sarcastically. Probably didn't help that most days she acted like one. Thorin, however, still saw her as a little girl most days, and she knew that was how he meant it now. "I'll wager on it. He'll make it."

"No, lass, I don't think he will." Dwalin disagreed while Thorin shook his head.

She frowned and looked at the man leading their company. "Five gold coins. He comes." Aysa told him.

"Then I'll be five coins richer by days end." Thorin agreed.

Wagers were placed then as Nori voiced that no, Bilbo wouldn't come. There were so few who agreed, and so few willing to bet against them. In the end not many of the dwarves sat out, but there were a few who refused. Aysa just smiled and truly hoped he'd be there. The hobbit, though stressed and refusing last night, did otherwise seem to be such a good man. After all, he let them stay and made sure Aysa had a thick blanket for the night.

"Since you're so sure, Aysa you can ride in back and keep an eye out." Thorin told her with mock in his tone.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, my king." She snarked. It had been a word she called him so many years ago and meant in honour. Now she loved to mock him with such a word because Thorin was always telling her to knock it off.

As she lingered to the side to fall back, dwarves laughed at her retort. Finding Fili and Kili to be the end of the line, she went in behind them keeping an ear open for a hobbit. "Did you boys place your bets?" She asked them.

"For." Kili chimed with a grin.

"Against." Fili gave a simple tilt of his head, voice kind so he clearly wasn't adamant over the assumed results. "I do actually hope I'm wrong."

She smiled and ended up in a crooked group of three rather than a line as the boys couldn't keep a precise pace. "Did you ever sleep, Fili?" Aysa asked.

"You were to bed same time as me." Kili looked at his brother critically.

"No, I stayed up while you were out before your head was even rested." Fili told his brother. He gave a glance back to Aysa, then answered while looking ahead. "Eventually. Hard to resist the sight of stars, however. And how did you rest?"

Not well at all. She had a blonde dwarf on mind and almost got up twice to ask him to stargaze with her. "Just fine, if a bit short in the end. Give me a good fight and I'll sleep for days." She fibbed. "All the while, darling Kili snored and I could hear him far down the hall."

"I did no such thing!" Kili laughed boisterously. Oh, he knew better than to believe he didn't snore.

"Ugh, Thorin's worse. He can sleep silent and sitting up in the wild, but give him a bed and there is thunder in the room." Aysa gossiped. She'd shared a room with the man, who offered and offered her the bed a thousand times, but when he wouldn't listen to her refusals she just plopped into a chair so he had nowhere to sleep but on the mattress.

Both boys laughed at her and that was when she heard it. When everyone heard it. Little shouts of "Wait! Wait!"

She face had to be so smug and knowing as dwarves called cautions to their ponies as they stopped suddenly. Bilbo was running through the thick of grass and trees, paper flapping behind him, trailing from a fist full of the contract. Aysa watched Thorin, who turned in such shock and completely silent. The hobbit panted as he caught up to the party, still holding up the paper.

"I signed it." He announced with a pride bigger than he was tall.

He held it up to Balin, who regarded it with raised brows and an eye glass. "Everything appears to be in order. Welcome, Master Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield."

It was something to be celebrated and cheered for, but Thorin turned off unimpressed. "Give him a pony."

Bilbo complained but the two young brothers with her picked him up by his arms and saddled him on an extra horse riddled with bags. Supplies and sundries, clearly. He looked to uncomfortable atop the tame beast.

Aysa shook her head and called out. "Thorin, if you had any faith you'd be five coins richer!"

"You and your faith can stop boasting!" He called back.

Then a coin purse soared over the heads of many dwarves and she almost pitched right off her pony to catch it. Five coins for her little win in the bet. She laughed, and then laughed harder and Fili pressed a few coins into Kili's palm.

"I've learned a lesson." Fili commented.

"That I'm always right." Kili mocked.

The blonde gave no reaction, just correcting him. "To never bet against Aysa, clearly."

"Oh ho ho, so I'm always right?" She teased and then went a bit quiet. That was the very first any of the dwarves really said her name. And in Fili's deep tones it was so complimentary. Her heart pounded.

"If our uncle's reaction is much to go by, this is not the first time you've bested him." Fili commented.

"As far as intellect and petty bets, here and there, yes." She agreed and looked at the blonde brother. "I should ride front. Do try not to be a noisy rear."

They chuckled at her wording as Aysa steered her pony off path and road quick to the front. Only so she could reclaim her place near Thorin without a word. Not that he'd make it so simple.

He spoke up without sparing a look. "Do try not to be a distraction. Fili and Kili are single minded. A young woman and a battle ahead, together to worry over, could harm either of them."

Aysa furrowed her brow. "Excuse me?" She asked, not fully understanding.

He turned his head to meet her eyes for a moment. Only a moment. "There is no place for romance on a quest, Aysa."

Her mouth fell open. To start she couldn't even believe he would assume something like that of her – until she recalled that irregular beat of her heart and her dream to spend a night talking to Fili under the stars. Something to suppress, then. There was no way that Aysa would purposefully be the cause of harm. It wouldn't be her goal, but it would be inevitable should she intentionally pair herself off with the dwarf.

* * *

That night found them at an inn. The only one along the road and it was far past dark, but it was simpler to travel farther than it was to camp in such an open place. In the late night they numbered fifteen to five rooms. It was an hour where planning who slept where wasn't worth it, so Thorin ordered three to a room, first come first serve.

Gandalf had Bilbo and Balin join him in the human sized room. Dwalin, Oin and Gloin shuffled into the next, grumbling. Ori, Nori, and Dori were of course together because Dori led his younger brothers by their arms, like a parent and children. Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur all attempted to go through the door at the same moment, Bombur rolling on top of the two when they fell in.

Fili and Kili laughed hard as they passed, and when they entered the last room they forgot their roommate. At least, Fili hadn't thought to keep track of her. While they grabbed a mead downstairs, she'd already dropped her bags down and dressed down. When they stepped in she looked up, a hand just tucking the front of that oversized shirt into her breeches.

"Goodnight, boys." She nodded simply, informally, and got into the third bed, farthest from the door.

Her back was to them as she started to lie down. "Oh, don't be so early to bed! You should have a drink with us." Kili told her excitedly, the two boys depositing packs onto the middle of the floor.

"And sleep well past dawn, or worse, wake Thorin in the night? I rather not face the wrath of any at least until we get to the mountain." She sat up only to say it, hands bracing her on the bed, laughing at the pair.

"Oh well, it was worth a try." Kili said. "I thought I might convince Fili yet to have another drink if there was another with us."

After one ale, he had told his brother that it was smartest to rest while they could do so easily in a bed. "I wouldn't have come." He told Kili.

But really if it had been Aysa, he might have risked it all for another drink. Any amount of time to watch her face and hear her talk. Kili clapped him on the back. "You would have, to at the very least keep me out of trouble."

That was also true. He gave his brother a look and they both laughed before the bed down from them creaked. Aysa was back to resting, back to them, burying her head in a limp pillow. Kili and Fili shed coats and armour, then resting themselves, Fili nearest the door and with his sibling between him and this woman.

Yet he didn't sleep, not to start. Kili of course snored in minutes, despite his claim of wanting to be up for hours still. Fili lied there, staring up at a ceiling cast in darkness, a hand under his head and the other on his chest. His thoughts were again of what lie ahead. Plausible peril, possible loss, and a great deal of fighting. All day he could be excited, not faking a moment, ready for the fight. But nightfall came and brought thought as dark as the sky above on a night with no moon.

Then right as his eyes closed and he began to grow tired a thunk resonated. His eyes opened again at the small inappropriate expletive dropping out of a female's mouth. Fili turned his head and saw it was Aysa holding her hands out as if to silence a pack that had made its way from the pile to near the end of her bed. She must have tripped over it.

He watched as she cracked open the window to the room. Then out she was, slowly and gripping the window frame until she was completely gone. Not down, but up, Fili catching a glimpse of a falling foot before she climbed. With the snore of his brother as a cover of noise, Fili got up without worrying about his noise. He followed to the window, then looked out and up. No sign of her, but a visible way up to the roof was clear.

Getting a grip on the frame for himself, Fili swung a leg out and stamped his foot on a part of the outside wall. With only slight difficulty he climbed up, and as he pulled himself onto the roof of the inn, there was Aysa. Sitting with her back to him and looking over the city edge of the town to the wilds past it. But as Fili stood and took his first steps towards her, she turned around.

"I didn't mean to wake you." She cringed.

"I haven't slept a wink, really." Fili told her honestly. But he had been close and it was slightly her fault he was up now.

As he sat next to her, he wasn't blind to her scooting over to put another couple inches between them. "I did, a few. But then Kili rolled over and only got louder." Aysa told him. "I hope he's not like this the whole journey or we'll surely be killed."

"No, he'll quiet down." Fili assured. "Most of the dwarves will, but those who do snore may cause us to need to protect them."

She outstretched her legs on the slanted roof and looked over to him. "Why are you up again? It's been a good two hours since you lied down."

He hadn't thought to count the minutes. "It's just excitement." He spoke with a smile and meant not a word.

Aysa saw through it. "More like nerves. It'll go away after a couple nights in the wild, when it really starts to hit you that you've no bed to sleep in." She nudged him gently, rocking her body towards him to bump elbow to elbow. "The comfort of a town is actually discomforting, I find."

"That may be it. I hope that's it."

"Undoubtedly. So you should go sleep. I'll only be out here until I'm tired enough to bear the noise." She nodded him back towards the window.

Fili would go, but first he teased, "Want me to roll Kili over? Or I could always smother him with a pillow." She laughed and pressed a hand over her mouth, trying to quiet the sound. "He'd likely sleep right through his own death!"

She just started to stand as he did. "We roll him." Aysa agreed.

They both went back to the room, climbing one after the other and Fili offering a hand and she ducked into the window. Then to Kili. They rolled him hard, almost tossing him right off the bed. It made them laugh and Aysa shushed Fili through her own giggles and Kili stopped snoring completely, face down in a pillow.

But when it got hard to breath the unconscious boy turned his head and the sound was back. Certainly lessened but still quite the noise. Fili and Aysa got into their beds, and with a goodnight lied down. He was sure she slept first, because after a short time she stopped shifting, gave a soft hum, and then silence from anything but Kili. Fili was next, and rested very well through the night.

* * *

**AN: More fun Fili moments! Had to do it. As well as mocking Kili and Thorin endlessly over snoring. **

**Thank you for those who have been reviewing! I really love all of the kind words and encourage you to put MORE. **


End file.
